aki tsukamoto, paintings and paper works

Aki Tsukamoto, "Paintings and Paper works"

september 5 - october 17, 2026
taguchi fine art, tokyo

Aki Tsukamoto was born in Saitama, Japan in 1989. Completed the graduate course of printmaking at Musashino Art University in 2014. While studying in school, he worked for Takashi Murakami at Kaikai-Kiki until he moved to the U.S. in 2016. In New York, he worked as an assistant to Tomokazu Matsuyama while creating and presenting his works his works in galleries there. He returned to Japan in 2020 due to the Corona Disaster and is currently lives and works in Odawara, Kanagawa.

Having studied silkscreen technique in graduate school, Tsukamoto was naturally attracted to Pop Art, which is closely related to the technique. During his stay in New York, Tsukamoto became familiar with graphic culture. Through repeated trial and error arrived at his current style "New Cubism," in which he uses compositions taken from modern paintings and cubist techniques to depict popular animation and cartoon characters with vivid colors.

By arranging motifs from different contexts with sampling techniques, sometimes in a surrealistic manner, Tsukamoto attempts to create a new and original world that cannot be defined by existing values or words.

While pop motifs and vivid colors are major characteristics of Tsukamotoﾕs paintings, his strong commitment to the technique of oil painting, his attention to color selection and precise brushwork, and his examination of and active engagement with art history are all worthy of note.

Recently he has also been creating a series of homages to renowned artists, such as Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, and Tamara de Lempicka, painting their portraits in his own style, as well as works reinterpreting and reconstructing their iconic works.

This exhibition features his recent paintings and works on paper that have been shown at fairs, pop-up events, and exhibition abroad but have not yet been presented in a solo show at Taguchi Fine Art. Please come to have a look.

From 17:00 through 19:00 on Saturday, September 5th, we will have a reception for the artist. Looking forward to your visit.